BERLIN/ISTANBUL: European soccer's governing body UEFA opened an investigation today into a "wolf salute" goal celebration by Turkiye centre back Merih Demiral which Germany condemned as racist due to its far right associations.
The 26-year-old defender mimicked the shape of a wolf's head with his fingers after his second goal in Turkiye's stunning 2-1 win over Austria in the last-16 of Euro 2024.
The gesture is linked to the "Grey Wolves", an ultra-nationalist youth branch of Turkiye's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party.
"The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums," Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a post on X. "Using the European Football Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable."
Established in the 1960s, the "Grey Wolves" were involved in political violence between leftists and nationalists that killed some 5,000 people around the time of a 1980 coup.
The group is outlawed in France and its symbol is banned in Austria. The "Grey Wolves" are also under surveillance in Germany, Faeser added.
UEFA said it would look into "the alleged inappropriate behaviour" of Demiral.
It has been cracking down on misconduct during the tournament, banning Albania's Mirlind Daku for two games after he led fans in offensive chants, and investigating England's Jude Bellingham for a crotch-grabbing gesture.
Elated by his man-of-the-match performance, Demiral told reporters he had planned the gesture.
"I had a celebration in mind about being Turkish. I did that (gesture). I am very proud to be a Turk, I felt that to my bones after scoring the goal, that is why I wanted to do something like that," he said after the match.
"I am very happy to have done that, all the fans are proud of us. I saw people in the audience doing that. I wanted to do it after seeing them."
The German Israeli Society, which described the "Grey Wolves" as a threat to Jews as well as Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, called on German authorities to ban the group.
"The ideological superiority of these fascist nationalists jeopardises public safety," its president Volker Beck said in a statement.
In Turkiye, the ruling AK party and its MHP ally condemned the UEFA investigation.
AK party spokesperson Omer Celik said those worried about racism and fascism should focus on recent elections around the continent where the far right has been on the rise.
"The Grey Wolf sign made by our son Merih after hitting the net is the Turkish nation's message to the world, and UEFA's launch of an investigation in this context is both ill-intentioned and part of a chain of provocations that have gained dangerous ground in recent days," added MHP leader Devlet Bahceli.
The incident coincided with the start of a trial in Turkiye of 22 people over the murder of former "Grey Wolves" leader Sinan Ates, who was gunned down in Ankara in late 2022. - REUTERS